Witness Claims Death-scene Talk Overheard

March 12, 1985|By Diane M. Goldie, Staff Writer

A Fort Lauderdale woman testified in a murder trial Monday that she was taking her daily pre-dawn walk when she heard a man, later identified as John Gordon Purvis, and a woman arguing inside the victims` home about tidying up the scene of the slaying.

Amy Rood told 12 Broward Circuit Court jurors that she heard the defendant and a woman, who the state contends was Purvis` mother, bickering several days before Susan and Shane Hamwi`s bodies were discovered at 1656 Poinsettia Drive, Fort Lauderdale.

Rood said it was about 6:25 a.m. when she heard a man say: ``What are we going to do with the baby? Well, we have to do something.``

She said the woman replied: ``I`ll take care of it. I`ll take care of it.``

On her return trip past the house at 6:40 a.m., Rood said she heard an angry female voice shout: ``Oh, you`ll never change. Don`t take that knife. Don`t do that. Stop it. Oh, oh, no, no.``

``She was mad,`` Rood said.

Rood said she initially reported to police that she overheard fragments of that conversation, and that she later recalled more details. Twice she picked out Purvis` voice from a tape recording of about six other people.

Purvis, 43, has been diagnosed by doctors as a chronic schizophrenic who is completely dependent upon his mother, Emma Jo Bartlett, 66. He has lived with her his entire life, and they were neighbors of the Hamwis`.

Purvis is charged with first-degree murder and sexual battery in the stabbing, strangulation and rape of Susan Hamwi, 38, in the kitchen of her home. The prosecution maintains that Purvis became angry when Hamwi rejected his advances and that he forced his way into her home and attacked her.

Purvis is also charged with first-degree murder in the death of Hamwi`s 18- month-old daughter, Shane, who died of dehydration in her crib.

Their bodies were discovered Nov. 8, 1983, but a medical examiner estimated that they died Nov. 3 or 4.

At the conclusion of the state`s case Monday, defense attorney Richard Kirsch asked Judge Thomas Coker to throw out the case against Purvis, saying the state did not have enough evidence to convict his client. He argued that police failed to thoroughly investigate other suspects, including Hamwi`s ex- husband and her former tenant.

Moreover, Kirsch maintained that police plotted to separate Purvis from his mother and pressured him into confessing. His arguments were rejected.

If convicted, Purvis faces a maximum penalty of death in the electric chair.